Birmingham City Council claim productivity has increased despite the long-running strike action by refuse workers.
Refuse workers in Birmingham have been on a strike since January, with agency staff voting to join the industrial action last month.
Despite the ongoing industrial action, which led to 17,000 tonnes of waste being uncollected across the city earlier this year, the council says productivity has improved, and they have received fewer complaints than prior to the strike beginning.
The council say there has also been a 52% improvement on missed collections and a 22% improvement on tonnage collected per employee.
In January, the council said its recycling rate was 22.9%, which is the lowest of any unitary authority apart from Liverpool.
In a statement given to Circular Online, Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said the council’s ‘claims about ongoing improvements to the waste service are clearly not true’.
“It boasts about the increased tonnage bin workers are collecting when black bins are stuffed with recycling and green waste that should not be in them,” Kasab said.
“No matter how hard it tries, the council’s desperate attempt to pretend it has things under control and workers are striking over nothing will fail. Nothing will improve until it stops refusing to enter into talks to find a fair resolution for the bin workers.”
The Birmingham bin strikes are set to continue beyond next year’s local elections in May after workers overwhelmingly voted to extend the industrial action unless a deal is reached.
Birmingham council announces new waste service set to rollout next year
Birmingham City Council have announced a ‘greener, more reliable waste service’ that includes weekly food waste collection and a second recycling bin.
The council says the service will increase recycling rates by 30% initially and plans to launch it in June 2026 ‘regardless of the strike situation’.
Cllr Majid Mahmood, cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “Residents will see a real difference with the new service.”
“We have already made some changes, with our new council-owned fleet fully operational – there is less reliance on hired vehicles, improved reliability and better consistency in collections.”
Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab called the plans ‘ridiculous’ and said the council should concentrate on resolving the current industrial dispute.
“There is a deal to be done, all the council needs to do is get in the room and talk to us so we can end the dispute,” Kasab said.